Frankly these waters are too deep for me, and I am starting to speculate. I will just leave it at ---I tend to LEAN to the idea that man is not tripartite (body soul spirit) but rather body and soul with the soul being synonymous with spirit, with the same being true for God in that soul is spirit. Not ready to plant a flag and defend this one, but I will say that I have read pretty extensively on it and that is where I (shakily) stand.
Official notice of momentary thread derailment.
I love talking about this...because it is truly speculative and we can agree or disagree and it does not matter.
I take the tri side of this argument, for a few reasons. And if I'm wrong ...... it doesn't matter.
Yes I know that spirit and soul are often used interchangeably. And I know the Old Testament makes no such distinction. But the New Testament does, and the Greek language is the perfect language to do this. And I know much greater Christians than I disagree with me. But, here are my "shaky" reasons.
First, the tri side of the argument makes teaching easier because its easier to systemize it for Bible study. I'll illustrate below.
Second, the New Testament scriptures give us the division very clearly in one verse:
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
That scripture clearly speaks to the Word of God dividing our beings into spirit, soul, and body (joints and marrow). The one passage that speaks to a division...divides by 3. I don't want to make a doctrine on this verse alone, and yes there are extremely compelling teaching that points to the 2 part division. But this passage exists, and must be accounted for.
I ran into a Pastor in Texas back when W was president, and his study on this convinced Me. I'll include some of his thoughts below
The Greek word for "Soul" ψυχή [psuchē] is where we get psyche from; think..."psychological", "psychology" etc. The soul or "psyche" encompasses our mind, will, and emotions.
The Greek word for "spirit " is "πνεῦμα" [pneuma]. Think..."breath" or "air". Its where we get our English words pneumatic, pneumonia, etc. When you think of ghosts, you're thinking of this word for spirit. The Christian teaching that scripture is inspired or " God breathed"....it is done so by the Holy Spirit (pneuma).
That Texas preacher put it that man is first seen as a physical body, the next level is the soul ( mind, will, emotions), but at the center of our being is our spirit. The spirit is the "heart of the matter". The spirit is the divine spark that God ignites in us upon our creation. This word pnuema...or breath...think to how God breathed into Adam at his creation.
A lot of self help teaching and modern teaching from "experts" give only spurious or temporary relief to our existential crises in life. It's because this "psychological" approach to mental health issues and illnesses is only penetrating to the level of the soul (mind, will, emotions) when the issues are deeper than our psyche; they're issues of the spirit...or "heart". Jeremiah 17:10 says God searches the heart of man; He goes to the bottom of our being. That's where healing begins.
Also there is the teaching of "was saved", "am being saved", and "will be saved", in regards to God's complete plan of salvation in the "already but not yet" reality of Christian life. This is where the spirit, soul, and body division makes it easier to teach. Initially we are saved by faith in Christ. This is the beginning of Christian life. We where dead to sin, but God saved us, we are a new creation; this is the spiritual part..."I was saved".
The "am being saved" is not technically salvation, it is sanctification or Christian maturity. We are being perfected [not perfect...not talking about sinless perfection]. This is where our mind, will, and emotions [our soul] are being transformed by the renewing of our mind, by the progressive sanctification by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit grows us up, so we can be more effective ministers of the Gospel, and give glory to God. Beholding God, we are changed. Sanctified, or set apart" is a great idea to explain Christian maturity .
The "will be saved" part is when Jesus comes in his 2nd advent, we meet him in the air with new spiritual bodies that are changed to incorruptible sin free bodies. That's "will be saved", as in the entire work of redemption ends at Christ's return; sin is no longer relevant to us then.
The spirit, soul, body tri-part of man idea systematizes this and makes it easier to teach, or understand. At least in my opinion.
This is all based on the soul being made up of our mind, will , and emotions.
That Texas preacher had a whole long study on this about in which he used discipleship and maturity interchangeably. It made a lot of sense to me.
Derailment over